Wireless communication devices (WCDs), such as mobile telephones, portable computers with wireless communication cards, and personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable media players, or other flash memory devices with wireless communication capabilities, are typically powered by limited battery resources. Improved battery life and battery life conservation are, therefore, of paramount concern when designing WCDs. The concern for battery life is offset, however, by demands by users for increased applications with network connectivity on WCDs, such as the so-called “smart” applications that provide email and browser accessibility.
An email application on a WCD ordinarily consumes a large amount of power because it requires both network connectivity and display. The email application requires a network connection to synchronize with a remote email server and, once synchronized, transfer email messages to and from the remote email server. The amount of power consumed may be decreased by reducing the frequency with which the email application synchronizes with the remote email server. The email synchronization frequency may be manually configured based on user and/or manufacturer settings. In some cases, a manufacturer may provide a user with email synchronization frequency options that are relatively long in order to conserve battery life. For example, WCDs with email applications may provide options for a user to select the frequency of email synchronizations to be every 15 minutes, every 30 minutes, every hour, or the like.